Looking ahead to a Romney Cabinet - Green GOP group not wild about Romney’s state control proposal - Layoffs at solar trade group - Michael Mann vows to sue National Review

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LOOKING INTO THE MITT-STAL BALL: So Mitt Romney has laid out his energy strategy. Now who’s going to be in charge of carrying it out? He’ll have no shortage of names to choose from. Already, speculation about top energy-related picks in a Romney administration has produced a wealth of options. Just some of the names being bandied about: American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard, former EPA Assistant Administrator Jeff Holmstead and lawmakers like Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

One big decision Romney must make: whether to rely on corporate leaders with fresh ideas from outside the Beltway or Washington insiders who know how to get things done. Darren Goode, Andrew Restuccia and Darius Dixon put their ears to the ground to bring Pros the story: http://politico.pro/PghzVp

NYT: INDUSTRY HELPED SHAPE ROMNEY’S STATE CONTROL PROPOSAL: The New York Times reports that industry executives helped shape the portion of Romney’s plan shifting greater permitting control to states. “An individual close to the Romney campaign said that Mr. Romney’s staff drafted the proposal in consultation with industry executives, including Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma billionaire who is the chairman of the campaign’s energy advisory committee and chief executive of Continental Resources, an oil and gas driller. …The Romney aide … said that any consultation with industry officials was simply to tap their expertise and did not mean the proposal was being shaped to serve their interests.” NYT: http://nyti.ms/P5UkBJ

HOLD UP ON THAT STATES THING, GREEN GOP GROUP SAYS: “These lands do not belong to individual states, any more than the Grand Canyon belongs to Arizona or Yosemite belongs to California," ConservAmerica President Rob Sisson said in a statement last night. “ConservAmerica supports balanced use of America's public lands, including fossil energy production, but we cannot support making fossil energy production the dominant use of our public lands at the expense of water and wildlife, nor can we support giving states control of the lands that every American owns as a birthright of citizenship.”

HEINRICH HITS WILSON OVER ROMNEY PLAN: Martin Heinrich, the Democrat running to replace the retiring New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, took a shot at Republican opponent Heather Wilson yesterday for her support of Romney and his energy plan, calling her a “rubber stamp” for the GOP nominee — particularly on cutting the budgets of the state’s national labs. “The Romney-Ryan agenda praised by Heather Wilson today guts investments in clean energy and slashes funding for our National Labs instead of creating much needed jobs right here in New Mexico,” Heinrich said.

FUDGY FRIDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, a newsletter your morning host assures you has been produced without the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs (margaritas aren’t performance-enhancing drugs, right?). Send your energy news to aguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @alexcguillen, @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Energy.

LAYOFFS AT SOLAR TRADE GROUP: The Solar Energy Industries Association is reducing its staff by seven full-time positions, or about 16 percent of the trade group’s workforce, the staff was informed Thursday. The move is meant to “rightsize our budget,” spokeswoman Monique Hanis told POLITICO, adding that the reduction is “a little bit of a reflection of the industry but also just tight budgets.” Your morning host has more: http://politico.pro/Q5Rxbz

FLORIDA READY FOR ISAAC, GOP: As Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to pass further west of Tampa than previously projected, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said late Thursday that he had spoken with Mitt Romney and assured him that the state is ready regardless. Tomer Ovadia: http://politi.co/R4XJvE

GOING TO TAMPA? Catch up with the POLITICO Pro crew for lunchtime discussions on energy and the economy. Join POLITICO’s Ben White and Laura McGann on Tuesday for a discussion on the growing economy with Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Darrell Issa. And don’t miss Energy Editor Bob King and POLITICO’s Jonathan Allen on Wednesday for a talk on what’s ahead for energy with special guests including T. Boone Pickens and Rhone Resch. A limited amount of seats are reserved just for Pro subscribers. Email PROEvents@POLITICO.com for more information.

CARNEY: KEYSTONE DELAYED, NOT REJECTED: That was the gist of the White House press secretary’s answer yesterday when pressed on whether the administration’s energy strategy is truly “all of the above.” “The Keystone pipeline is a — we haven’t rejected anything,” Carney said. “It’s a process that’s underway at the State Department that was delayed for two reasons: One, because of concern by folks in Nebraska, including a Republican governor, about the original proposed route, and then because of Congress’s — the House Republicans’ insistence on including it as part of the payroll tax cut extension.”

** A message from America’s Natural Gas Alliance: What does increased shale gas development mean for America? More industrial and manufacturing facilities coming home to the U.S. because affordable, domestic natural gas is making American companies and workers more competitive. www.anga.us/workforce **

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: “SAY WHAT?????” was the subject line of a blast to reporters from Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans. From the email: “Given the wide media coverage, it would be almost impossible to forget when President Obama decided to reject the Keystone XL pipeline application in January.”

MICHAEL MANN VOWS TO SUE NATIONAL REVIEW: A growing feud between climate scientist Michael Mann and the conservative National Review magazine could be headed to court. Mann took issue with a July post on the National Review’s site calling his so-called “hockey stick” graph “fraudulent.” In a post this week (http://bit.ly/Sof7RA) rebutting Mann’s complaints, editor Rich Lowry wrote that “in common polemical usage, ‘fraudulent’ doesn’t mean honest-to-goodness criminal fraud. It means intellectually bogus and wrong.” Mann yesterday posted on Facebook a statement from his lawyer that the National Review “did not deny the fact that it was aware that Dr. Mann has been repeatedly exonerated of any fraudulent conduct.” “We intend to file a lawsuit,” Mann added: http://on.fb.me/P4NoEO

WHY THE NATIONAL REVIEW WANTS A LAWSUIT: Lowry anticipated a lawsuit in his post this week. “If Mann goes through with it, we’re probably going to call on you to help fund our legal fight and our investigation of Mann through discovery. If it gets that far, we may eventually even want to hire a dedicated reporter to comb through the materials and regularly post stories on Mann.” Mann’s lawyer called it a “transparent threat that the National Review intends to undertake burdensome and abusive litigation tactics should Dr. Mann have the temerity to attempt to defend himself in court.”

CBO SCORES PESTICIDE, INHALER BILLS: The Congressional Budget Office has scored two bills passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee before the August recess. H.R. 6194, which would let farmers seek permission from EPA to use the pesticide methyl bromide despite an international treaty largely banning it, would cost the agency less than $500,000 between 2013 and 2017, CBO said: http://1.usa.gov/RhPeBv. And H.R. 6190, which would greenlight the sale of remaining stocks of Primatene Mist, an inhaler whose sale was banned because of chlorofluorocarbons, carries “no significant impact on the federal budget,” CBO said: http://1.usa.gov/O7pWmT

GREEN GROUP PROMOTES NEW FUEL STANDARDS: The Save Our Environment Action Fund will launch a six-figure online ad campaign today promoting the new EPA and Transportation Department fuel efficiency standards. The online ads — a re-launch of an ad released earlier this summer and featuring a play on Romney’s Seamus incident — will appear in Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Wisconsin, and the campaign include a radio tour, Twitter promotion and more. The final fuel standard rule has been delayed from release so far but is expected soon. View the ad here: http://www.doublethempg.com/

SO COME ON, COME ON, DO THE LOCOMOTION WITH ME: Later today GE Transportation is set to unveil its new locomotive that it hopes will be first ever to meet EPA’s Tier 4 emissions standard. The newest in the Evolution Series Locomotive line will cut emissions by 70 percent and save railroads $1.5 billion in infrastructure and operating expenses, GE says. The Tier 4 standards, which call for the 70 percent emissions cut, are set to kick in in 2015. GE says the new fleet will help railroads avoid fuel additives and the construction of more fueling stations in order to meet the standard. Check out a picture: http://bit.ly/R4DyxM

BLOOMBERG, MITCHELL CALL FOR SAFE FRACKING: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and “father of fracking” George P. Mitchell write in The Washington Post: “Fracking for natural gas can be as good for our environment as it is for our economy and our wallets, but only if done responsibly. The rapid expansion of fracking has invited legitimate concerns about its impact on water, air and climate — concerns that industry has attempted to gloss over. With so much at stake for the environment, jobs and energy security, it is critical that we make reasoned decisions about how to manage the use of hydraulic fracturing technology.” http://wapo.st/MPuP63

QUICK HITS

— Industry and government experts say Alaska and Hawaii are not yet ready to create a strong natural gas trade with one another. AP: http://bit.ly/Su1saa

— Cape Wind says it will buy a Falmouth, Mass., marina as a base of operations for its proposed wind farm. Boston Globe: http://bo.st/PF5Jof

THAT’S ALL FOR ME. See you next week.

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: We believe in a clean energy future. Natural gas is a cleaner energy choice and a key partner to solar and wind technologies. From California to Florida, natural gas facilities are working with renewable energy to ensure steady, affordable and cleaner energy choices for communities across our nation. Because it is an abundant and affordable energy source available right here in America, natural gas can help make the promise of cleaner energy a reality in more American communities. Natural gas is smarter power today. Visit anga.us to learn more. **